Trying to hit a knuckleball that’s being thrown at 80 miles per hour can be intimidating.

Trying to catch one is no easy task either.

For the knuckleball pitcher, it all boils down to trust — knowing that while you unleash your wild, unpredictable pitches, the man behind the plate will be able to catch them, as often as possible, before they hit the backstop.

Since 2009, R.A. Dickey and Josh Thole have had that kind of partnership.

So when the Blue Jays traded for the 38-year-old Cy Young winner in a deal that was officially completed on Monday, GM Alex Anthopoulos made sure to include Dickey’s personal catcher in the group of players that would be moving from New York to Toronto.

And Dickey is glad that he did.

“Josh and I have been together for three years now,” he said in a conference call with the media on Tuesday afternoon. “So (having him in Toronto too), there’s a comfort level there that’s immediate for me.”

For Thole, being the man behind the plate when Dickey is on the mound has had its downsides, and those can be seen in his defensive stats. Since his rookie season with the New York Mets in 2009, the 26-year-old has 41 passed balls to his name, including 18 in 2012 alone.

But being able to effectively catch someone as crafty as Dickey, who has not only mastered the knuckleball, but can also throw his signature pitch at two distinctly different velocities, takes more than kneeling behind the plate with an outstretched glove.

It takes attention to detail and a great understanding of who the man standing on the mound is, and according to Dickey, Thole’s figured it out.

“Josh really brings something for me, a real comfort level because he knows me so intimately,” Dickey said. “He knows how I like to work ... He knows mechanically what to look for — if he sees the ball moving a certain way, he can give me feedback that I can apply that in the moment.”

It’s a relationship that has been forged over time. And with Thole expected to continue with his role as Dickey’s personal catcher when the two men put on a new set of blue and white jerseys next season, it’s one that should keep growing.

But if something was to happen to Thole, and J.P. Arencibia was forced to catch the knuckleballer in his stead, Dickey has faith that the Blue Jays main man would be able to “handle what (he has) to offer … with some hard work.”

With both Dickey and Arencibia living in Nashville, Tenn., during the off-season, the two have already planned to meet up before pitchers and catchers are to report to spring training at the end of February.

“We’re going to get together a few times … just so that he can become acquainted with the movement of the pitch and the style that I like to pitch,” Dickey said. “We’ll get to converse around that, which is great.

FAMILY MAN DICKEY IS DELIGHTED

R.A. Dickey is not one who takes family lightly.

So when the 38-year-old knuckleballer refered to his new team with familial connotations, you know he meant it.

“I’m certainly happy to be a part of the Toronto Blue Jays family, and that’s how I see it — as a family,” he told the media in a conference call on Tuesday.

“When Alex (Anthopoulos) came (to Nashville) to talk to me about an extension, one of the things that I really bought into was us being a family for the next three years, not just this year.”

Having Anthopoulos make the trip to discuss his contract in person was a gesture with which Dickey was quite impressed.

Before he’d even committed to a lengthened deal, the Tennessee native grew content with the organization to which he’d just been traded.

“It meant a lot to me that Alex had the foresight to come down here,” the righty said. “It allowed me to look him in the eye … to hear from his heart where he thought I fit into the scheme of things with the organization, where he envisioned us going in the near future, and how important he felt like I was to that vision.

“That really set me at ease and got me excited about being part of a winning culture in Toronto. I told my agent that I felt very comfortable around him … he knows what he’s getting and I feel like I know what I’m getting too.

“This is the start to a good marriage, I think.”

After signing a two-year, $25-million extension, the 2012 National League Cy Young award winner can settle in, knowing he’ll be here awhile.

And from what he knows of the city itself, Dickey is certain that his real family will enjoy being here as much as he's sure he will.

“It’s a beautiful city, it’s got passionate people in it, and the culture is first class,” he said. “I enjoy involving my family in things that are diverse and multicultural and Toronto certainly represents that in a lot of different ways.

“It’s going to be a fantastic place for my family to be, and a fantastic place to go to work.”

Catcher Thole is a comfort for knuckleballer Dickey

BLUE JAYS

Trying to hit a knuckleball that’s being thrown at 80 miles per hour can be intimidating.

Trying to catch one is no easy task either.

For the knuckleball pitcher, it all boils down to trust — knowing that while you unleash your wild, unpredictable pitches, the man behind the plate will be able to catch them, as often as possible, before they hit the backstop.

Since 2009, R.A. Dickey and Josh Thole have had that kind of partnership.

So when the Blue Jays traded for the 38-year-old Cy Young winner in a deal that was officially completed on Monday, GM Alex Anthopoulos made sure to include Dickey’s personal catcher in the group of players that would be moving from New York to Toronto.

And Dickey is glad that he did.

“Josh and I have been together for three years now,” he said in a conference call with the media on Tuesday afternoon. “So (having him in Toronto too), there’s a comfort level there that’s immediate for me.”